Bugatti auto news

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Just like the Miata itself.

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The Bugatti Veyron might be getting on in years, but it's still an engineering marvel capable of truly insane velocity. There are tons of videos of the Veyron doing its super-high-speed trick of reaching 200 miles per hour with seemingly no effort. But do you know how much ground the coupe is actually covering at full chat? Let's just say it's mighty impressive.

According to the YouTube description, this video was shot at the 2014 Sun Valley Road Rally in Idaho. The event shut down a portion of highway and allowed cars to hurtle down that stretch at ludicrous speeds, and a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport with 1,200 horsepower on hand showed the crowd what fast really looked like. Thankfully, the organizers monitored the vehicles' speed, confirming that this supercar managed a massive 246.4 miles per hour.

The way that the Veyron reaches that momentum is just as impressive, though. At first, all you see is a fast-moving white spec, but it doesn't sound like a car. It has more of the constant note of a jet but with a little audible grumble as it streaks by. Scroll down to see what nearly 250 mph looks like on a deserted stretch of highway.

If you had told us when the Bugatti Veyron debuted nine years ago that its successor would be a hybrid, we would have responded that you were out to lunch. In fact, we didn't quite believe it two years ago when the rumor first surfaced. But that was all before Porsche, McLaren and Ferrari proved that hybrids could not only be quick, but entertaining drives, as well. And when we say "quick," we mean Nürburgring-conqueringly, 0-60 in under three seconds quick. Today, the idea of a hybrid hypercar doesn't seem far-fetched at all. And so we bring you new reports that the next Veyron - whether it carries the same name or not - will pack an electric assist.

This according to Reuters, which notes that Bugatti's old-is-new-again CEO Wolfgang Dürheimer is keen on hybrid propulsion as evidence that the Alsatian marque is likely to pursue such a powertrain for the Veyron's replacement. The system wouldn't help curb the Veyron's portly weight, of course, but it would likely help cut down its prodigious fuel consumption. The current car, by the way, would run dry after 12 minutes at its 250+ mph top speed (by which point the special Michelin tires would have melted anyway). More importantly - and more likely - the hybrid assist will make the new car even punchier at low revs.

Of course, even assuming Reuters is correct, there's no telling to what internal-combustion engine the electric motor in the next Veyron will be paired with. However, considering the massive sums of cash Volkswagen spent on developing the unique 6.0-liter quad-turbo W-16, we'd bet it'll use some form of the same - just with an extra jolt of electric power thrown in for good measure.

Now nine years since its introduction, the Bugatti Veyron has given rise to more special editions than it has cylinders and turbochargers combined. But while the Veyron may be nearing the end of its production run with barely a few dozen left to go - Grand Sport and Vitesse roadsters all - Bugatti isn't quite done with the special editions.

At Pebble Beach last year, the Alsatian marque revealed the teal Jean-Pierre Wimille edition, kicking off a series of six small-run specials called Les Légendes de Bugatti (which we'll assume we won't have to translate for you), each to be built in a batch of three and honoring influential figures from the company's past. The black Jean Bugatti edition was next to be unveiled in Frankfurt, the azure Meo Costatini edition in November, followed by the brown Rembrandt Bugatti edition at Geneva and the penultimate Black Bess in Beijing. We got word a few months ago that the last in the series would be unveiled at Pebble Beach this August, one year after the Wimille edition started it all, and here it appears to be.

Spotted driving near the Bugatti factory in Molsheim by supercar photographer Stephane Heiligenstein, this yellow and black Vitesse roadster appears to be the Elisabeth Junek edition we anticipated back in February before the Rembrandt edition bowed in Geneva. It pays tribute to a female Czech racing driver from the 1920s also known as Eliška Junková who diced it with the best gentleman racers of her day.

Her tribute roadster apparently carries a similar livery to that which Ettore's son Jean loved best and similar to past Veyron specials like the one unveiled at the Dubai Motor Show and the first of two commissioned by Hollywood clothier Bijan Pakzad. We'll have to wait until Monterey weekend next month to report to you the first official details, but regardless, we doubt Bugatti will have any trouble selling the three examples it will build just like the previous five series.

To this year's Beijing Motor Show, Bugatti showed up with a special Veyron called Black Bess. It's the fifth in a series of six Legend editions that pay homage to a figure from the Alsatian marque's considerable history - in this case legendary French aviator Roland Garros. Now it's released a promo video showing off the stunning (if mechanically unaltered) black Vitesse roadster.

Not that Bugatti will need any help selling the Black Bess edition, of which only three will be made. Despite their $3 million price tags, Bugatti has sold every one of the previous four Legend runs, helping it move those last examples of the legendary Veyron before it can move on to the next chapter in its history.

Like any other Vitesse, the Black Bess edition packs a 6.0-liter, quad-turbo W16 engine driving 1,184 horsepower to all four wheels. What sets this special edition apart is the lustrous black paint, 24-carat gold accents and uniquely decorated cream leather interior with historic story-boards of classic Bugatti T18 and airplanes on the door panels. All of which may strike you as rather silly, but makes for a rather stunning vehicle highlighted in the video below.

The Bugatti Veyron Legend editions may do nothing to alter the Grand Sport Vitesse's already prodigious performance, but buyers appear to love them. Four special models have been unveiled so far, and Bugatti has sold out of all of them. At the 2014 Beijing Motor Show, the automaker has introduced the fifth Legend - the Black Bess.

Unlike the previous models, this Legend is inspired by a specific car, rather than a person. Black Bess was the name of a Bugatti Type 18 owned by famous French aviator Roland Garros. With seven examples built from 1912 to 1914, the 18 was a supercar in its time. It sported a 99-horspower, 5.0-liter four-cylinder engine and could reach 100 miles per hour. While paltry today, it was amazing performance by contemporary standards.

The modern Black Bess packs the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse's 1,184-hp, quad-turbo W16 engine, and it wears rich, black paint with 24-carat gold accents. The interior has a combination of beige, brown and red leather, but its real showpieces are the hand-painted leather door panels that depict the Type 18 and Roland Garros' plane.

Like the rest of the Legends vehicles, the Black Bess will be limited to just three cars, and each one will be priced at €2.15 million ($2.97 million). Scroll down to read the full press release on the on Bugatti's latest, classically inspired creation.

Wolfgang Dürheimer is still in play, with Bentley Motors announcing that he will return to the Chairman and CEO slot of the English company and French division Bugatti on June 1, 2014. He'll probably remember those chairs from the last time he filled them, since he was promoted to both positions in 2010 and remained there until September 2012, when he was installed as the head of R&D at Audi. That job only lasted until June of 2013, his nine-month tenure reported to be full of corporate drama that lead to his dismissal from the position.

But as if on gardening leave, he's been in the low-profile position of General Representative of the Volkswagen Group responsible for motorsport. Once back at Bentley, he will take over as the company works on getting its SUV to market and expanding its range. Both of those briefs Dürheimer will know well, having proved his ability at Porsche in the first decade of the new millennium. And even though no longer at Audi, his hybrid days don't appear to be over, as Bentley recently announced that it will hybridize of 90 percent of its lineup.

Dürheimer will also take on a third position, joining a VW Group committee focused on the US and Chinese markets. His successor at Bentley and Bugatti, Wolfgang Schreiber, has been promoted to "a leading position within the Volkswagen Group." There's a brief press release below with the official words.

The chances of a new product from Bugatti are getting closer. The tally of available Veyrons left keeps dropping, with only around 40 units to go to complete the stated 450-car production run. The supercar maker has reportedly begun development on a successor, and that is looking increasingly likely because a pair of test cars with some intriguing modifications have been spotted lapping the Nürburgring.

We recently saw the white car testing in a short video; now a new set of spy shots have given us an even better look. The car appears stock, until you notice the weird aluminum armature at the back. The wires and boxes indicate it's likely for data acquisition, and given the location, engine testing would be a good bet.

The black Veyron is wearing slightly widened bodywork and may also have a wider track. According to our spy shooters, those absolutely massive black wheels may be made from carbon fiber. Another interesting note is the panel cut out at the rear of the car behind the driver's side tire. There is clearly a radiator visible behind it. Perhaps, both cars are testing new powertrain options?

Bugatti has refused to give a precise timeframe for the launch of the Veyron successor, but it has promised that it won't be revealed until all current models are sold. It has also reportedly dropped plans to attempt the four-door Galibier supercar. Whatever Bugatti comes up with is going to have to be mind-blowing to outdo the modern supercar trio of the Porsche 918, McLaren P1 and Ferrari LaFerrari.

It's been sixteen years since Volkswagen acquired the Bugatti name and started showing off successive concept cars to preview the Veyron that followed. It's been eleven years since the first Veyron prototype started testing, and nine years since it entered production. But soon - probably sometime next year - Bugatti will have sold the last of the Veyrons it will ever build. And considering that the Veyron is the only model it offers, it will need something else to take its place, lest the marque effectively go dormant once again.

Having ruled out the prospect of doing a less expensive sports car years ago and, more recently, the production prospects for the Galibier super-sedan, Bugatti is committed to further the concept of a super-sports car that will, in all likelihood, be lighter than the current Veyron - which may seem like a no-brainer, considering the car weighs over 4,000 pounds - but with an engine that is, by every metric but output, twice the size of the one you'd find in, say, a modern McLaren, trimming weight will be no mean feat.

That does appear, however, to be what Bugatti is seen testing at the Nürburgring in this video clip below. Going by the handle fastsportscardriver, the videographer/uploader doesn't seem to know what he has captured here, but the Grand Sport prototype he's spotted seems to be wearing some sort of metal frame over the exposed engine, suggesting something's at work here. Just what that is, we don't know. But when you're dealing with an engine that already produces upwards of a thousand horsepower, whatever they're working on, it's got to be good.

Continue reading What's up with this Bugatti Veyron spied at the Nurburgring?

Say what you will about all the special editions Bugatti makes out of the Veyron. The fact of the matter is that they sell, and sell quickly. In fact, each of the four Legend editions to date - all of which have been limited to three examples, amounting to twelve cars - has sold out at prices hovering around the $3 million mark, helping Bugatti sell the last few dozen examples of the Veyron roadsters it has to build before the model is retired entirely. And you can bet this one will sell out just as fast.

It's called Black Bess, and unlike the previous examples in the series that paid homage to specific people in Bugatti's history, this one honors a specific car. But not just any car: "the first ever street legal super sports car," in the automaker's own words. That epitaph belongs to the Type 18, a pre-war Bugatti with an inline-four that produced just 100 horsepower (less than a tenth of the Vitesse's output) and topped out at 100 miles per hour - mind-blowing speed in its time. Named after a famous English racing horse, Bugatti only made seven Type 18s, one of which was raced by Ettore himself, and another was bought by legendary aviator Roland Garros.

To pay tribute to such an instrumental vehicle in the marque's history, Bugatti decked out a Vitesse roadster - complete with open roof and 1,184-horsepower quad-turbo W16 engine - in black with 24-carat gold accents. The interior is upholstered in light beige and brown leather with red leather steering wheel and trim. The door panels feature imagery of the original T18 and Roland Garros' plane, rendered in a specially-developed ink on leather.

As with the previous versions, Bugatti will only make three examples, each commanding a €2.15 million (about $3M) purchase price. The first of the three is being presented at the Beijing Motor Show, but if your travel plans don't include a stop in the Chinese capital this month, you can scope it out in the high-res image gallery above and the details in the press release below. The final Legend edition, which we still expect will honor Elisabeth Junek, will be presented at Pebble Beach in August.